Monday, April 26, 2010

Flaky Lachcha Parathas

I belong to the group of people who cannot make their rotis rise up to the occasion. In India, it was other people who I depended on to get my nourishment of rotis/phulkas. Here, I have an electric cooking range, so my hope of flame-fluffed phulkas are dashed anyway. Thus, I am forced never to make rotis, because the stove’s surface just chars the roti and makes is quite inedible. And I am like a three-times in a day roti eater.

My source of wheat protein is now dependent on naan from restaurants, pita bread from supermarkets or parathas at home.

Last evening, a one such parathas-at-home day, I experimented with making lachcha parathas. I knew the basics, but brushed up on the nuances with this video from YouTube. However, I did not use an egg as shown in this video or that pinch of sugar.

Ingredients for Lachcha Paratha are:

One and a half cups of atta (for about five parathas) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil A pinch of salt

Knead a dough with enough water, keep covered for about 30 minutes. Divide the dough into equal portions, each should be about the size of a juicy lime!

Roll out flatbreads or rotis, dust with flour and drizzle some oil on the surface. (I have an uncanny knack of confusing people, please follow the video for better understanding!)

Start pleating the roti as shown in the video, then spiral the strand to make a coil-like shape. Keep covered in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour. Dust flour and roll our flat parathas with each section of the dough. Heat a griddle, pan or tava and cook the parathas on each side, about a couple of minutes turning regularly. Drizzle some oil or ghee and brown the sides. I like my parathas a little crispy. Crush the parathas gently with your hands to enhance the layers and serve. You can actually see the swirls! These Lachcha Parathas are great with curries and gravies.

@Soma, I saw on Food Network one time some chef said if you left the dough in the fridge for sometime, it becomes crispy when you fry. She obviously was talking about pastry crusts. I implemented the same here. :-)

For me this was a little diversion from my usual parathas - triangle ones Mum used to make.